Ulnar Positioning Injury - Is Your Documentation Enough?

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A 39 year old healthy woman underwent a robotic myomectomy for the removal of 2 fibroids.

Post operatively she suffered bilateral numbness from her wrist down to her 4th and 5th digits, with the right worse than left.

She sued her surgeon, anesthesiologist, and the hospital for the following:

Here is the purported negligence of the anesthesiologist:

The total anesthetic time for her procedure was 2 hours and 10 minutes.

The surgery and anesthetic were otherwise uneventful.

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She first called the surgeon’s office 1 week after her surgery to report these symptoms, and was sent to a neurologist who performed an EMG.

After a diagnosis of cubital tunnel syndrome she saw a hand surgeon.

A cubital brace was prescribed but not tolerated.

She underwent a cubital tunnel release and ulnar nerve transposition.

At 1 year follow up she had improved enough to return to work as a teacher, but still suffered from continued neuropathy symptoms.

The following is the OR documentation from the anesthesiologist and nursing staff concerning patient positioning.

An anesthesiologist was hired as a defense expert.

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